• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

How has your approach to gear changed in 2020?

#101
I'd say I'm emphasizing quality over quantity- slowly replacing basses I don't enjoy and/or were lesser quality with basses I prefer. Same with amps and pedals.

I've found that I mostly prefer passive 4 strings but still have a couple active 5 strings and one active 4 string for variety.

Also, I'm trying to have a decent guitar rig just for fun and helping with song ideas. Being in no band right now it's been mostly playing just to amuse myself but at the same time trying to keep an eye towards when I start actively playing with bands again.
 
#102
Great question. The pandemic has caused a shift in gear priorities for sure. My live work (touring and local) is down about 95% overall since March. There was a bit of a resurgence in Sept. and Oct., but with winter coming I don't expect that to improve since outdoor gigs will be sparse.

Fortunately I have a home studio and have been doing tons of recording, ranging from bass tracks for outside clients to full on production that includes playing bass. So needless to say I'm thinking a lot less about amplification and more about mics and recording software. In fact, I was just looking at my mountain of amps and cabs with serious thoughts of unloading some of it. Even before the pandemic hit I wasn't using my amp gear as much, since a lot of my local and touring gigs involved supplied backline.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Basslice
#104
BobbyT said:
How has your approach to gear changed in 2020?

Since the pandemic hit—like a lot of people—I've been playing solo a lot more. I don't know if I'd chalk it up more to boredom or a real need but I found myself looking for a different sound.

So after 10+ years playing heavy La Bella flats on my P-bass, I switched back to roundwound strings this year. It's been a lot of fun for solo improvisation and the amateur recording I do at home. (I even switched to Spirocores on my upright after many years with Evah Pirazzi, which was a similar experience... but that's a topic for another thread.)

I also rarely use my amp anymore.

What about you?
Click to expand...

I used to gig nearly every weekend, but that ended back in March. Most gigs were cancelled, but I had a number of summer offers come in that I declined out of concern about COVID. I wound up accepting two of those offers -- various reasons. I wasn't thrilled about exposing myself to risk, but was TRULY thrilled to fire up my gig rig again! :bassist: I can't do that at home because I live in a condo (though I do like my Fender Rumble 1x10 combo a lot).

What I'm trying to do is replace lost gigs with lengthy home rehearsal sessions: I do NOT want to lose my endurance by the time the gigs return. I've decided to challenge my fingers by playing songs by Rush, Pat Travers, Red Hot Chili Peppers -- best I can do, as I've never had JacoChops(tm). Scheduling these lengthy rehearsals can be a challenge. Used to be easy to keep my fingers in shape for three one-hour sets: I'd go to the gig! Here at home, lengthy sessions are harder to schedule and there can be interruptions.



Oh wait... you're asking about gear! Actually, the biggest factor for 2020 isn't COVID, it's the fact that I've been too extravagant over the past 5+ years. I now have all the gear I need plus more. I'm happy, and can truly say that I have no significant GAS. I had already planned on a frugal gear year, and the pandemic has made it easy for me to stick to that plan. Instead of buying new stuff, I've been enjoying all the gear that I own (aside from my gig rigs, unfortunately). I've been rotating through all my basses (10), and all of my overdrive pedals (a dozen-plus). I love variety: all my basses sound different, same with the overdrives.


All that said, I've made three relatively minor gear purchases here in 2020:

* Darkglass Harmonic Booster 2 EQ pedal: because semi-para mid is cool, and none of my amps have it
* HPF Tech (fdeck) HPF3 pedal: because I did not own an HPF
* Tronographic Rusty Box: was on my wish list forever, couldn't say no to the limited edition Halloween run. Unlike the previous two it doesn't fill a void in my gear collection, but it sounds great and I'm glad I got it. Essentially I consider it a COVID consolation prize.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Spidey2112
#106
BobbyT said:
How has your approach to gear changed in 2020?

...I've been playing solo a lot more... I also rarely use my amp anymore.

What about you?
Click to expand...

Actually quite the contrary. Up till this year, my bass playing has been almost all home studio; for over a decade, my playing-out gigs were on 6-string short-scale piccolo bass, because that was valued more than the low end. So, I was mostly playing my bass direct through the amp, when I was playing bass at all; my acoustic 6-string had been seeing most of the love for years.

This year, my bass playing became relevant again with this new band. It's nothing earth-shattering, but they have enough guitarists, so I dusted off the bass rig and auditioned. While COVID's thrown many wrenches in the works, pretty much everyone in the band views our getting together to play as a risk they're willing to take.

To that end, this year saw more change to my bass capabilities, both hardware and "software", than in the last decade. Prior to this year I hadn't bought a bass since 2007 and hadn't bought an amp in almost as long. This year has seen my new Sire P7 join my TRB as a front-line gigging axe, a MarkBass 2x10 combo that's proved plenty adequate in quantity and quality of sound and allowed my Fender Bassman 150 to stay upstairs in the studio, and a dedicated pedalboard just for bass. I'm more or less back at a steady-state now, I'm GASing mainly for little things here and there, but far from keeping me in the cave, 2020 has seen me stepping out more as a bass player than at pretty much any point since college.
 
#109
No bass changes.
Got rid of my board. Got a REDDI, tuner and Rolls for my IEMs. Put them in a case.
Got a Focusrite Solo interface for my computer for practice and recording.
Amp is the same.
Strings are pretty much the same.
Still need a synth.

Found a nice bourbon, Weller.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Spidey2112
#113
Bunk McNulty said:
A short story: For many years now I've never gone on a gig without at least a compressor, a BBE Sonic Stomp, and a tuner. We had a couple outdoor gigs in September. In the interest of making things as uncomplicated as possible, given that I was pretty stressed out about playing for a crowd, even though I know outdoors is safer than indoors, I went with my connecting cord and a clip-on tuner, nothing else. Can you guess what happened next? Our sound guy came up to me at the end of the first set and said, "Wow, great presence, great punch, what did you do?":D I haven't sold off the contents of my pedalboard yet, but I have thought about it. I did buy a pretty Squier 5-string, and I'm making a little progress with it, which is more than I can say about the previous four times (or was it five?) I've made an attempt.
Click to expand...
Short story: Back in the day, bought a pedal, plugged it in, noticed that even when it was turned off, my sound lost some sparkle. Fast forward 35 years when I started playing again: Looked to buy a coily cord, couldn't hardly find one. Learned that they fell out of favor when people discovered that something called "capacitance" especially in cheap cables, sucked tone out of your signal chain big time.

It's likely that I had simply added a second coily cord into my circuit and it's the cord, not the box, that sucked my tone away. (Who knew?)

Moral of the story: Maybe try short, high-quality patch cords on your pedalboard?

My apologies if you already knew all that. But if you didn't, then this is my good deed for the day...

;->
 
  • Like
Reactions: SDC1-ClickClack and Bunk McNulty
#114
P1010631.JPG


I'm going to get a couple of ramps made for these. Just extend the fretboards right back to the bridge sort of thing. I might get them lined, that might come in handy.
 
#115
BobbyT said:
How has your approach to gear changed in 2020?

Since the pandemic hit—like a lot of people—I've been playing solo a lot more. I don't know if I'd chalk it up more to boredom or a real need but I found myself looking for a different sound.

So after 10+ years playing heavy La Bella flats on my P-bass, I switched back to roundwound strings this year. It's been a lot of fun for solo improvisation and the amateur recording I do at home. (I even switched to Spirocores on my upright after many years with Evah Pirazzi, which was a similar experience... but that's a topic for another thread.)

I also rarely use my amp anymore.

What about you?
Click to expand...
Not at all:-)
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back